The South Dakota State women's soccer team flew by the Golden Eagles, 2-0, on a cold night at Fishback Soccer Park...

The Jackrabbits scored one goal midway through both halves and played solid defense all night to secure the win.

In the 34th minute, senior Kayla Braffet punched in the first goal. Braffet received the cross after a give-and-go by Danielle Neuhalfen and Darci Miller. Both were credited with an assist.

The game was nearly tied, as an ORU forward broke away and had a one-on-one with senior goalkeeper Kat Donovan. But Donovan was up to the challenge and made her only save on the night.

The score at halftime was 1-0.

SDSU and Oral Roberts were tied with three shots each, but all three SDSU shots were on goal, while only one ORU shot was on goal.

It did not take long for the Jackrabbits to add the insurance goal, as Cori Bonte found the back of the net 13 minutes into the second half. This time Braffet was there on the assist, collecting a loose ball and playing it to the top of the box for Bonte.

For Braffet, the night's goal is her fourth of the season and 18th of her career, tying her for fifth-place on the SDSU all-time goal-scoring leaderboard. The assist, her third of the season and 16th of her career, ties her for second-place on the SDSU all-time assist-scoring leaderboard. The combination of the two gives her 11 points this season and 52 points on her career, which puts her in fifth-place on the SDSU career scoring leaderboard.

"We have continued to create a lot of good attacking options," head coach Lang Wedemeyer said. "It was nice that we finished a couple. We have to continue to be more dangerous."

ORU tried to pressure the Jacks, but there was no kink in the defensive armor of SDSU.

"We did a pretty good job [on defense]," said Wedemeyer. "Stéphanie Bérubé was out and Caylee Costello stepped in and had a great game. There were moments when we were a little bit unorganized and a little bit lucky, but we have been on the reverse side of that so much this season. It was nice to have that flip-flop."

The game ended 2-0 in favor of SDSU.

The Jacks outshot the Golden Eagles 9-4 thanks to a 6-1 advantage in the second half. Five of the nine SDSU shots were on goal, while ORU only put one shot on goal. SDSU led in corner kicks 2-1.

"It's so tight," said Wedemeyer. "There is only four teams that make it to the conference tournament. Every game matters. We cannot take anybody for granted. Oral Roberts is a good team and they played good soccer. We feel very gratified with the win tonight."

Next up for the Jacks is a conference game against Southern Utah on Sunday, Oct. 2. Game time was changed to Noon. The Thunderbirds fell to North Dakota State on Friday, 3-1. The Jacks are 3-1-1 against SUU all-time. Last season, SDSU beat SUU in a high-scoring affair, 4-3.

"Southern Utah is a team that always plays us tough," Wedemeyer said. "They are very scrappy. They play very direct which causes us problems sometimes. It is a Summit League game; we have to come and give our best."

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